Abingdon on Thames Town Council are holding an Open Day about their latest plans for the Guildhall on Saturday 23th July 2016 . This is on the Abingdon Portal and on noticeboards round the town. So I thought I would also announce …
Let me tell you of the Guildhall
Its rooms for public use –
Some ancient and some modern
all fused without excuse.
One end has lots of concrete,
A nineteen sixties build
That doesn’t fit the heritage –
Of a hall for an ancient Guild.
New plans will be on display
that change the modern end
with a new glazed public piazza
to meet the latest trend.
The plans will also include the removal of the front external escape stair and front and rear concrete ramps. The main hall will have raked seating and cinematographic equipment, and a stage moved to the other end.
“…whilst the Guildhall’s futures sunny, it will cost us lots of money…”
Will the Guildhall’s new usage projections allow for the increase of use by our additional 1000 homes to the north?
Will the Guildhall’s usage projections allow for the new community centre/shops (and reduced footfall?) being constructed as part of the 1000 homes development?
Daniel, behave…
As you well know, the centre and shops wont be built ( if ever ), until after all the houses are complete, so that will be at least 2020.
Plenty of time to rejig the Guildhall plans yet again.
Council spending is all a matter of priorities. The town council (or at least one party wing of it) has decided the financial priority is the guildhall rather than the children’s centres.
http://m.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/14637367.Abingdon_Town_Council_committee_refuses_to_stockpile_cash_for_children_s_centres/?ref=twtrec
Perhaps the children’s centres have missed a trick by not having a Masonic lodge meeting on premises 😉
…or a cinema (screen)!?
They would have had plenty of money if it had accepted the offer from one of the commercial operators. I notice in the Herald this week they are now saying the operators pulled out of the deal which is totally untrue.
Who specifically is this “they” who are lying, Iain?
Hi David
Either the Herald or whoever has spoken to them….
“hopes that a new commercial cinema might open in the guildhall were crushed in the last year when a cinema chain abandined a bid to move in”
Totally untrue
People not doing what seems best. Frustrating at every turn. Making no sense. The feeling of powerlessness. It happens to us all the time; welcome to our world Iain.
What makes you think i live in a different world Daniel – i doubt i have any more control of the sort of issues you raise on this site than you do.
No raked seating – the floor would need strengthening. No place for a proper cinema projector. So, a village hall with a conference/office projector, plus a cafe. Better than what is there now but I can’t see how it will be able to break even.
One of the councillors there to explain the project said he thought demolishing the building would be the best plan. Fair enough…
Town clerk Nigel Warner said: “…..we are on the final straight of getting the plans together but it’s never too late to pitch in with suggestions and get people’s comments.”
OK – how about we go back to the original plan, partner up with a commercial cinema operator who can bring some cash, real expertise and deliver something which will be beneficial to the town, rather than end up with something which offers very little differentiation from what we already have in the town.
It’s a mess, the councillors are clearly way out of their depth with this and I fear it will be a monumental waste of money.
Steve, you have struck upon the VERY thing that The Council are expert at….